News: Sound Trends Launches Looptastic Gold App for iPhones

Sound Trends, the new music software company from the founders of MixMeister Technology, has launched Looptastic Gold, the first iPhone music-production app to take advantage of OS 3's e-commerce features. Looptastic Gold's built-in Loop Store enables music enthusiasts to audition, buy, and download new Loop Sets on the go, and then mix them in Looptastic's familiar interface, an Apple Staff Favorite. "Before OS 3, we had to create a new version of Looptastic for each genre of music our customers loved," says Sound Trends President Aaron Higgins. "But most people love multiple styles of music, and combining different sounds is the whole point of remixing. Now, inside a single, 99-cent app, people can audition new loops, buy them with one click, and make fresh music — anywhere there's an Internet connection." Looptastic Gold ships with the same six Loop Sets as the flagship Looptastic Producer app ($9.99). Downloadable Loop Sets cost $3.99 each. Each Loop Set contains ten loops crafted to combine perfectly. The next update of the app will allow customers to combine loops from different Loop Sets in one composition. The Silver Lining: Try the Loop Store for FreeTo help customers leap into the bold new world of in-app shopping, the Loop Store offers a free, downloadable Loop Set from virtuoso musician Jordan Rudess. In addition to his influential keyboard work with Dream Theater, Rudess is blazing new performance techniques on the iPhone. His five-star videos on YouTube show just how expressive a touchscreen can be. "Looptastic is an incredible application," says Rudess. "It combines ease of use with power and has an interface that is both immediate and fun. In a sea of iPhone apps, this is a must-have for anybody who wants to work with loops and do their own mixes." Rudess recently released a solo album called Notes on a Dream and is currently touring with Dream Theater to promote Black Clouds and Silver Linings (Amazon link). For up-to-date news and tour info, see JordanRudess.com or DreamTheater.net. Golden TouchMixing with Looptastic is easy and tactile: You load a Loop Set and then drag the loop icons vertically to control volume and horizontally to snap them into one of three mixer zones. (Thanks to multitouch support, you can grab up to five loops at once.) The integrated crossfader and multimode resonant filter let you shape the mix in real time. The crossfader controls the balance of the left and right zones, facilitating breakdowns, transforms, and seamless sound-swapping. Loops in the center zone play independently of the crossfader, enabling the performer to sustain a groove or a background texture. Sound Trends constantly updates the Looptastic line in response to customer requests. Recent upgrades — all free — include performance recording, AIFF mix export over Wi-Fi, and (in Looptastic Producer) tempo control and wireless backup for recordings and custom Loop Sets. See Looptastic in action at http://www.soundtrends.com and discover why Apple named it a Staff Favorite. Specs:

Hardware Requirements: Apple iPhone or iPod Touch with Version 3 firmware. (The next update will allow the app to run on OS 2, albeit without the Loop Store feature.)

Comes with the same collection of loops as the flagship Looptastic Producer app ($9.99) for just $0.99. (Looptastic Producer allows you to import your own loops.)

All the mixing, recording, and audio file-export features of the costlier Looptastic apps (multitouch volume control with three zones and crossfader, multimode resonant filter with touchpad-controlled frequency and resonance, and Wi-Fi mix export).